FUN HOUSE US
Fun House (1988 - 1991) was an American kids' game show hosted by JD Roth. Although often criticized for having piggybacked off the success of the similarly themed game show Double Dare, Fun House was a major success and influential in its own right. Although it only lasted three seasons, it inspired the tremendously popular UK version, and also influenced a number of Latin American gameshows of the 1990s.
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The show's format consisted of three stunt rounds, with an extremely easy question round after each. This was followed by a Grand Prix race, which was usually a relay-style race to collect tokens. The team with the most points after all events would get two minutes to run through a carnival-style fun house, where they would grab tags to win cash and other prizes.
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Host JD Roth actively coached and commentated throughout the stunt rounds, unlike the UK version, in which host Pat Sharp would dodge out of the way as soon as a messy game would begin. Many of the stunts were untimed and relied on dumb luck, with no real skill required to win, such as pulling on the correct string to avoid being slimed. Most stunts had some story element behind them, with an added slapstick component involved. Although the stunts varied widely, some of the most popular ones appeared more frequently, such as Dump-o, Slop Machine, Pinhead, and Tic Tac Schmutz.
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Fun House had an impressive budget for a children's gameshow. The studio set was one of the largest of its kind, with many games involving larger-than-life props and set pieces. In the second season, the set was further expanded to include an indoor swimming pool, complete with a waterfall and waterslide. The generous budget also showed in the prizes, with winners regularly winning several thousands of dollars worth of prizes. Fun House was a spectacle of entertainment from the heyday of big-budget syndicated children's television.
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Fun House ran for an astounding 375 episodes, with the first season alone reportedly shooting 195 episodes. The first two seasons were produced for syndication, to be shown on various local and independent TV stations across the US. In 1990, the series was picked up by the Fox Network, who produced its third season under the re-branded name Fox's Fun House. It aired on Saturday mornings until 1991, before disappearing from the airwaves, never to be rerun.
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